MOBILE, Alabama - Bus Cook doesn't want to start any rumors -- he's been down that road enough, thank you very much -- but he has never seen Brett Favre look better.

Hold the phone. Before you think Favre's agent is dropping hints about yet another return to the NFL for the former Southern Miss standout, think again. He's merely making an observation.

Still, it's an interesting one.

"Today, he could play today,'' Cook said Monday night before his appearance as guest speaker at the New Horizons Credit Union-1st & 10 Club meeting at Heron lakes Country Club. "I saw him the other day. He's in the best shape I've ever seen him in, physically.

"His arms look like a blacksmith's arms. He rides a bike probably 30-50 miles a day. He runs four or five miles a day. He's coaching at the high school and they're undefeated. He loves it. His body fat is 7.5 percent and he weighs 225 pounds. He could play today, better than a lot of them out there today.''

In speaking about Favre, the player who started Cook in the business of representing athletes, Cook said it isn't the physical gifts that separated Favre from the others. Instead, it was his passion for the game.

"And none of them, I don't care who you watch, was more exciting and loved the game (more),'' Cook said of Fvare. "He made the game exciting to watch. He was going to throw it to somebody. It may not be who it was supposed to be, but somebody. And he just loved to play football. ... He told a coach one time at the Pro Bowl, Joe Pendry ... He said, 'Coach, you see all those guys out there? If they'll play for free I'll play for free. I love it, I just absolutely love it. But if they're going to get paid, I'm going to get paid for doing it too.'

"It was never about money with that guy. It was never about records. The one record he was most proud of was that consecutive starts. He said, 'Because that tells everybody that I gave the man a day's work for a day's play and I got up and I went to work every day of my life.' ... He's just a super guy, he really is.''

A friend in Hattiesburg asked Cook to play golf with "a couple of kids'' a few years back. One of the kids was Favre. "I didn't have any idea who they were. I wasn't a big Southern Miss fan at that time,'' Cook said. "... One of the kids said, 'Hey, I might need your help.' I said, 'What kind of trouble are you in?' He said, 'I'm not in any trouble but I might get the chance to play some pro football.' I said, Well, I don't know anything about that.' He said, "I don't either, but I'd like for you to help me if you will.' He said, 'I've talked to a lot of people around town and you're a good guy and a good attorney and all that stuff.' I said, 'Well, we'll give it a whirl.'''

And that's how the whole thing started. Cook would later represent Steve McNair, Randy Moss and others and he currently represents Cam Newton and Jay Cutler. he said he has leaned a lot over the years, especially while representing Favre, and admitted sometimes contract negotiations can feel like playing with Monopoly money based on the figures.

But he was quick to note his job and his aim is always to get the best deal for his client, while at the same time trying to impress upon them the value of the contracts and being wise with the money they make.

Of course, having a little moxie doesn't hurt either.

"My very first experience was with Favre when he got drafted by the Falcons,'' Cook said. "And I had no clue, and still don't know much, what I was doing.'' he said during that initial contract meeting the Falcons owners brought along some medical people and the owners began expressing concerns about Favre's hip, which he had injured in the East-West Shrine Game.

"I told them, 'You don't need to worry about his hip','' Cook said. "This was about the same time Bo Jackson had his problems with his hip. 'He's fine, the doctors in Hattiesburg have examined him and he's OK,' I told them.''

The Falcons still had concerns. Cook tried to ease those concerns. "I could feel they were trying to work an angle to get the money down in the contract. It was different then. You negotiated more at that time.

"I said, 'If you guys are worried about avascular necrosis ... which I can relate to Legg Perthes in a child where the head of the femor becomes flat instead of round where it won't roll in the socket because of the restriction of blood supply to it.'''

The Falcons were impressed, the deal was done, and Favre and his agent walked out in the hallway. "Brett says, 'Where'd you learn all that stuff?' I said, 'My stepson had Legg Perthes. It sounded pretty good didn't it?' From that moment on we were doing pretty good.''